American Airlines jet and military helicopter crash in Potomac River (includes video story)

An American Airlines jet carrying 64 passengers crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night after colliding midair with a military helicopter. 

There are no survivors and operations have been switched from a rescue mission to a recovery mission, announced District of Colombia fire chief John Donnelly at a press conference early Thursday morning. Twenty seven bodies have been recovered from American Eagle Flight 5342 and one from the Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

The crash occurred at 8:47 p.m. as the plane approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, returning from Wichita, Kansas. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed on social media that the helicopter had been on a military training flight and operated out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The status of the crew of three aboard the helicopter has not been confirmed. 


Among the plane’s passengers were young figure skaters, their family members and coaches, according to U.S. Figure Skating. They were flying back from a training camp held in Wichita following the national figure skating championships. 

President Donald Trump announced Thursday morning via TruthSocial that he was briefed on the collision and is scheduled to hold a news briefing at 11 a.m. EST.



This is a developing story.

David Lazcano Ventura is a journalism/digital broadcasting junior student at FIU with an Associates Degree in art. He loves theater, music, and communication arts as well as i guitar and piano. He is proficient in Italian and fluent in English and Spanish.

Isabel Rivera is a senior majoring in Digital Journalism with two minors in Art and English. Her interest in culture, the arts, and storytelling has led her to pursue careers in such topics in both journalism and publishing. Isabel’s work can be found in the Miami Herald, Miami New Times, Miami Times, Caplin News, Artburst Miami and PantherNOW. She currently works as a managing editor at Caplin News.

Anna Trinidad is a senior majoring in digital journalism. She hopes that her dedication to multimedia projects will land her a career as a news anchor in the future.